Classification of flexible

manufacturing systems
By Jim Browne, University College, Galway; Didier Dubois, Centre d'Etudes et
de Recherches de Toulouse: Keith Rathmill, Cranfield Institute of Technology:
Suresh P. Sethi, Universityof Toronto; and Kathryn E. Stecke, The Universityof
Michigan.
There has been some uncertainty concerning the
conditions under which a manufacturing system may be
termed 'flexible'. To clarify this confusion eight types of
flexibilities are defined and described.
A FLEXIBLE Manufacturing System
(FMS) is an integrated, computer-
controlled complex of automated
material handling devices and
numerically controlled (NC) machine
tools that can simultaneously process
medium-sized volumes of a variety of
part types.
tsl
This newproduction
technology has been designed to attain
the efficiency of well-balanced,
machine-paced transfer lines, while
utilizing the flexibility that job shops
have to simultaneously machine
multiple part types.
Recently, many newmanufacturing
facilities have been labelled FMS. This
has caused some confusion about what
constitutes an FMS. Flexibility and
automation are the key conceptual
requirements. However, it is the extent
of automation and the diversity of the
parts that are important; some systems
are termed FMS just because they
contain automated material handling.
For example, dedicated, fixed, transfer
lines or systems containing only
automated storage and retrieval are
not FMSs. Other systems only contain
several (unintegrated) NC or CNC
machines. Still other systems use a
computer to control the machines, but
often require long set-ups or have no
automated parts transfer.
Some systems are called flexible
because they produce a variety of parts
(of very similar type, using fixed
automation). In most of these
examples, the operating mode is either
transfer line-like or based on produc-
ing batches of si mi lar part types.
To help clarify the situation, eight
types of flexibilities will be defined and
described. Examples or explanations
are provided when needed to illustrate
a particular flexibility type. Measure-
ment and attainability of eachare also
discussed.
q Machine Flexibility: the ease of
making the changes required to
produce a given set of part types.
Measurement of these changes
include, for example, the time to
replace worn-out or broken cutting
tools, the time to change tools in a tool
magazine to produce a different subset
of the given part types, and the time to
assemble or mount the newfixtures
required. The set-up time required for
a machine tool to switchfrom one part
type to another includes: cutting tool
preparation time; part positioning and
releasing time; and NC program
changeover time. This flexibility can
be attained by:
(a) technological progress, suchas
sophisticated tool-loading and
part-loading devices;
(b) Proper operation assignment, so
that there is no need to change the
cutting tools that are in the tool
magazines, or they are changed less
often;
(c) having the technological capability
of bringing boththe part and
required cutting tools to the
machine tool together. -
q Process Flexibility: the ability to
produce a given set of part types, each
possibly using different materials, in
several ways. Buzacott [ 1982] calls this
`job flexibility', which`relates to the
mix of jobs whichthe system can
process.' Gerwin [1982] calls this `mix
flexibility'. Process flexibility
increases as machine set-up costs
decrease. Eachpart can be machined
individually, and not necessarily in
batches. This flexibility can be
measured by the number of part types
that can simultaneously be processed
without using batches. This flexibility
can be attained by having:
(a) machineflexibility; and
(b) multi-purpose, adaptable, CNC
machining centres.
El Product Flexibility: the ability to
changeover to produce a new(set of)
product(s) very economically and
quickly. Mandelbaum [ 1978] calls this
action flexibility, the capacity for
taking newaction to meet newcircum-
stances.' Included in this concept is
Gerwin's [ 1982] 'design-change flexi-
bility'. This flexibility heightens a
company's potential responsiveness to
competitive and/or market changes.
Product flexibility can be measured by
the time required to switchfrom one
part mix to another, not necessarily
of the same part types. This flexibility
can be attained by having:
(a) an efficient and automated produc-
tion planning and control system
containing:
(i) automatic operation assign-
ment procedures; and
(ii) automatic pallet distribution
calculation capability.
(b) machineflexibility.
El Routing Flexibility: the ability to
handle breakdowns and to continue
producing the given set of part types.
This ability exists if either a part type
can be processed via several routes, or,
equivalently, eachoperation can be
performed on more than one machine.
Note that this flexibility can be:
Potential: part routes are fixed, but
parts are automatically rerouted
when a breakdown occurs;
Actual: identical parts are actually
processed throughdifferent routes,
independent of breakdown situa-
tions_
The main, applicable circumstances
occurs when a system component,
suchas a machine tool, breaks down.
This flexibility can be measured by the
robustness of the FMS when break-
downs occur the production rate does
not decrease dramatically and parts
Relationships Among Flexibility Types
Product Flexibility
Machine Flexibility Process Flexibility
Operation Flexibility
continue to be processed. This flexi-
bility can be attained by allowing for
automated and automatic rerouting of
pa rts (potential routing flexibility), by
pooling machines into machine
groups,
16 1
whichalso allows machine
tool redundancy; and also by duplicat-
ing operation assignments."' These
latter policies provide actual routing
flexibility. The FMS would then be
state-driven by a feedback control
Policy.
q Volume Flexibility: the ability to
operate an FMS profitably at different
production volumes. A higher level of
automation increases this flexibility,
partly as a result of bothlower
machine set-up costs and lower
variable costs suchas direct labour
costs. If it is not economical to run a
particular system at its usual volume,
say during a decrease in market
demand or a recession, then there are
less personnel problems concerning
the idling of labour. Perhaps alterna-
tive uses of the FMS could be
found. Also, production volumes can
vary from week to week, resulting in
variable machine and system utilisa-
tions. This flexibility can be measured
by howsmall the volumes can be for
all part types withthe system still
being run profitably. The lower the
volume is, the more volume-flexible
the system must be. This flexibility
can be attained by having:
(a) multipurpose machines; and
(b) a layout that is not dedicated to a
particular process; and
(c) a sophisticated, automated
materials handling system, suchas
(possibly intelligent) carts, and not
fixed-route conveyors;
and
(d) routingflexibility.
q Expansion Flexibility: the
capability of building a system, and
expanding it as needed, easily and
modularly. This is not possible with
most assembly and transfer lines. This
flexibility can be measured according
to howlarge the FMS can become.
This flexibility is attained by having:
(a) a non-dedicated, non-process-
driven layout; and
(b) a flexible materials handling
system consisting of, say, wire-
guided carts; and
(c) modular, flexible machining cells
withpallet changers; and
(d) routingflexibility.
q Operation Flexibility: the ability to
interchange the ordering of several
operations for eachpart type. There is
usually some required partial pre-
cedence structure for a particular
part type. However, for some
operations, their respective ordering is
arbitrary. Some process planner has
usually determined afixed ordering of
all operations, eachon a particular
machine (type). However, keeping
the routing options open and not pre-
determining either the 'next' opera-
tion or the 'next' machine increases
the flexibility to make these decisions
in real-time. These decisions should
depend on the current system state
(whichmachine tools are currently
idle, busy, or bottleneck).
O Production Flexibility: the universe
of part types that the FMS can
produce. This flexibility is measured
by the level of existing technology. It is
attained by increasing the level of
technology and the versatility of the
machine tools. The capabilities of all
.t he previous flexibilities are required.
Not all of these flexibility types are
independent. The Figure displays the
relationships between the different
flexibilities. The arrows signify
necessary for'. An ideal FMS would
possess all of the defined flexibilities.
However, the cost of the latest in hard-
ware and the most sophisticated (and
at present non-existent!) software to
plan and control adequately would be
quite highon some of these measures
and lowon others. For instance,
processing a particular group of
products may be made possible
throughthe use of head indexers
having multiple-spindle heads. How-
ever, they hinder bothadding newpart
types to the mix and introducing new
part numbers, since retooling costs are
highand changeover time can be a
day. Also, some flexible systems (such
as the SCAMP system in Colchester,
UK) include special-purpose, non-
CNC machines, suchas hobbing and
broaching, which also require
(relatively) huge set-up times.
This classification of flexibilities
can help categorize different types of
FMS.
Relationship among types offlexibility.
The level of automation helps to
determine the amount of available
flexibility. Because of the different
choices of various flexibility levels,
there are different types of FMSs. It is,
therefore,- useful to classify these
systems in terms of their overall
flexibility.
Towards a classification of flexible
manufacturing systems, Groover
[ 1 980) divided FMSs into two distinct
types:
(i) Dedicated FMS;
(ii) Random FMS.
A dedicated system machines a fixed
set of part types withwell-defined
manufacturing requirements over a
known time horizon. The 'random
FMS', on the other hand, machines a
greater variety of parts in random
sequence.
In addition to these basic, extreme
types of FMSs, all FMSs are different
in terms of the amounts of the flexi-
bilities that they utilize. In this section,
a classification of FMSs according to
their inherent, overall flexibility is
provided. Four general types of FMS
will be defined.
The following standards are pro-
vided based on FMS components,
whichwill be used to describe and
classify the different types ofFMSs:
1. Machine tools:
General-purpose or specialized
Automatic tool changing capabi-
lities (increase flexibility)
Regarding tool magazines, their
capacity, removability, and tool-
changing needs (affect the flexi-
bility).
2. Materials handling system:
Types include: conveyor or one-
way carousel; tow-line withcarts;
network of wire-guided carts;
stand-alone robot carts
Part movement equipment:
palletized and/or fixtu red
Tool transportation system:
manual; or, automatically, with
parts.
Production
Flexibility
Routing Flexibility
Volume Flexibility
Expansion Flexibility
The FMS Maqazine April 1984 115
Storage areas for in-process inven- machine tools, and the finished parts
tory:
Central buffer storage
Decentralised buffer at each
machine tool
Local storage.
4. Computer control:
Distribution of decisions
Architecture of the information
system
Types of decisions: input
sequence; priority rules; part to
cart assignment; cart traffic
regulation
Control of part mix: through
periodic input; througha feed-
back-based priority rule_
These
`
flexibility' standards for the
physical FMS components are used to
clarify differences and similarities
between the FMS types.
Althoughnot typically considered
FMS, this classification scheme will
include the flexible assembly system
(FAS).
The simplest possible component of
an FMS or FAS is a flexible assembly
cell (FAC). It consists of one or more
robots and peripheral equipment,
suchas an input/output buffer and
automated material handling. To date,
only about 6 %of robot applications
are in assembly.
A flexible assembly system (FAS)
consists of two or more FACs. In the
future, as the technology develops to
allowthe interface between manufac-
turing and assembly, an FAS could
also be a component of a flexible
system.
The types of FMS described, are
categorized according to the extent of
use of their flexibilities. The classi-
fication of a particular FMS usually
results basically from its mode of
operation as well as the properties of
the four components described above.
Type I FMS: Flexible Machining
Cell
The simplest, hence most flexible
(especially withrespect to five of the
flexibilities) type of FMS is a flexible
machining cell (FMC). It consists of
one general-purpose CNC machine
tool, interfaced withautomated
material handling whichprovides raw
castings or semi-finished parts from an
input buffer for machining, loads and
unloads the machine tool, and trans-
ports the finished workpiece to an out-
put buffer for eventual removal to its
next destination. An articulated arm,
robot, or pallet changer is sometimes
used to load and unload. Storage
includes the rawcastings area, the
input and output buffers of the
area.
Since an FMC contains only one
metal-cutting machine tool, one might
question its being called a system.
However, it has all of the components
of an FMS. Also, it is actually an
FMS component itself. Withone
machine tool, it is the smallest, most
trivial FMS.
Type II FMS: Flexible Machining
System
The second type of FMS can have
the following features: It can have real-
ti me, on-line control of part produc-
tion. It should allowseveral routes for
parts, withsmall volume production
of each, and consists of FMCs of
different types of general-purpose,
metal-removing machine tools. Real-
ti me control capabilities can auto-
matically allowmultiple routes for
parts, whichcomplicate scheduling
software. Because of real-time control,
however, the actual scheduling might
be easier. For example, the scheduling
rule might be to route randomly, or
route to the nearest free machine tool
of the correct machine type. The
scheduling rule could be some appro-
priate, system-dependent, dynamic
priority rule withfeedback.
Sometimes, dedicated, special-
purpose machines tools, suchas multi-
ple-spindle head changers, are used in
an FMS to increase production. The
machine tools are unordered in a
process-independent layout. It is the
part types that are to be processed by
an FMS whichdefine the necessary,
required machine tools.
A Type II FMS is highly machine-
fl
exible
,

process flexible, and product-
flexible. It is also highly routing-
flexible, since it can easily and auto-
matically cope withmachine tool or
other breakdowns if machines are
grouped or operation assignments are
duplicated.
Within the Type II category, the
various kinds of material handling
provide a sub-range of flexibility. In
order of increasing flexibility, various
material handling systems include:
power roller conveyors, overhead
conveyors, shuttle conveyors, in-floor
towline conveyors, and wire-guided
carts. Some examples include:
(i) a network of carts and decentral-
ized storage areas, for shorter pro-
cessing times (Renault Machines
Outils, in Boutheon, France);
(ii) a towline withcarts and central-
ized storage areas, for longer
processing times (Sundstrand/
Caterpillar DNC Line, in Peoria,
Illinois, USA).
Type III FMS: Flexible Transfer
Line
The third type of FMS has the
following features. For all part types,
eachoperation is assigned to, and
performed on, only one machine. This
results in a fixed route for eachpart
throughthe system. The layout is
process-driven and hence ordered.
The material handling system is
usually a carousel or conveyor. The
storage area is local, usually between
eachmachine. In addition to general-
purpose machines, it can contain
special-purpose machines, robots, and
some dedicated equipment. Schedul-
ing, to balance machine workloads, is
easier. In fact, a Type III FMS is easier
to manage because it operates
similarly to a dedicated transfer line.
The computer control is more simple
and a periodic input of parts is
realistic. Once set up, it is easy to run
and to be efficient. The difference is
that it is set up often and relatively
quickly.
A Type III FMS is less Process-
flexible and less capable of auto-
matically handling breakdowns. How-
ever, the system can adapt by re-
tooling and manually inputting the
appropriate command to the com-
puter, to re-route parts to the capable
machine tool. This takes more time
than the automatic re-routing avail-
able to a Type II FMS.
Type I V FMS: Flexible Transfer
Multi-Line
The fourthFMS type consists of
multiple Type III FMSs that are inter-
connected. This duplication does not
increase process flexibility. Similar to a
Type III FMS, scheduling and control
are relatively easy, once the system is
set up. The main advantage is the
redundancy that it provides in a
breakdown situation, to increase its
routing flexibility. It attempts to
achieve the best of bothFMS Types II
and III.
Flexibility range
All things being equal, a Type II
FMS is operated `flexibly', while a
Type III FMS is operated in a much
more `fixed' manner. These types
provide the extremes, say, the bounds
on flexibility. There is, of course, a
whole range of flexibilities between
the two general types. However, these
smaller variations in flexibility are
defined by the versatilities and
capabilities of the machine tools,
whichare dictated by the particular
FMS application, i.e., the part types to
be machined. The types of material
handling system also provides sub-
groups of flexibility. The overall flexi-
bility, however, is defined by an FMS's
mode ofoperation.
In general, the FMSs of the United
States and the Federal Republic of
Germany tend to be more like the
Type II FMS, while those of Japan are
more similar to Type III. The second
floor of Fanuc's Fuji complex, consist-
ing of four flexible transfer lines, is an
example of an operating Type IV
FMS. It consists of several identical
FACs, whichare not all identically
tooled. Parts do have fixed routes, but
if an assembly cell is down, the parts
requiring it are automatically able to
be routed to another assembly cell,
whichcontains the correct tooling.
The first floor of this Fanuc plant, the
Motor Manufacturing Division, is a
good example of Type II.
All FMSs consist of similar com-
ponents. The numbers and types
of machine tool may differ. What
really defines the flexibility of an
installation is howit is run. The level
of desired flexibility is an important
strategic decision in the development
and implementation of an FMS. This
paper has provided a framework for
suchstrategic decisions.
Acknowledgements
Kathryn E. Stecke's researchwas supportedin
part by a summer researchgrant from the
Graduate School of Business Administration at
The University of Michigan as well as by a grant
by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn,
Michigan.
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